Globalization In The Clothing Industries
...Globalization in your wardrobe
The nature of the clothing industry is maybe best noticed after a quick peek in your wardrobe. Soon you find out that few items have actually been made nearby. Instead, the origin of most jeans, t-shirts, or sweaters lies in more exotic locations such as Mexico, Bangladesh, Madagascar or Thailand.
The clothing industry as we know it today, exemplifies some characteristic issues that our global economy faces. Due to its global organization, clothing industry flows across borders, linking companies, governments and economies of both developed and developing countries together. Millions of employees work in the industry worldwide. Some countries’ export and employment level depends mainly (if not totally) on the clothing and textile industry. Mainly due to these facts, it is no wonder that the industry has for a long time been subject to a myriad of policies.
The global nature of the industry is also reflected in the figures from the World Trade Organization. According to their 2006 estimates, the share of clothing in the total worldwide trade of manufactures trade is 3.8%. This is a substantial amount of money, especially if you consider the amount of jobs that correspond to this. If one looks at the export from individual countries, even higher shares can be found. The highest share of merchandise export is reached in Bangladesh, where clothing amounts to 74% of domestic merchandise export. Other countries that show high export dependence are Cambodia (71%), in Haiti (71%) and Madagascar (69%).
The global triad comes apparent when one looks at the magnitudes of trade flows related to clothing. In 2004 the biggest importers of clothing were the Western Europe, North America and Asia. The biggest exporters of clothing in this same year were Asia and Western Europe. One can conclude that the clothing industry is very global...
View Full Essay
